


Beans

by punkbean



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 19:58:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7697548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkbean/pseuds/punkbean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Just an Americano. Black,” said Tall-and-Handsome.</p><p>Interesting. Magnus wouldn’t have pegged him as a plain black coffee man. “To go?” he asked.</p><p>Tall-and-Handsome nodded.</p><p>“What’s your name?” Magnus asked. They didn’t usually do the name thing when it was this quiet, but Magnus was curious.</p><p>“Alexander,” he said. Then he frowned and shook his head slightly. “Alec. Just Alec. Nobody ever calls me Alexander. I don’t know why I said that.”</p><p> </p><p>Submission for the Summertime Gift Fest!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beans

Magnus knew he was lucky to have a job. A decent job, at that. He was paid relatively well, his manager was nice, and the coffee shop was only a twenty minute walk from his apartment. 

Despite this, it could be difficult to remember how lucky he was, and it was all down to the customers.

When he had first started working there, he’d been given afternoon shifts, and he always enjoyed those. The cafe was relatively quiet, and even when it got busier it was more than manageable. 

He’d been deemed good enough to handle a morning shift, though, and regretted it ever since. 

Morning shifts meant people were in bad moods and in a hurry. That was never a good combination, and Magnus burned himself on the steamer more times than he could count on his first few morning shifts. 

He quickly got used to the hecticity, but still took afternoon shifts whenever he could.

Afternoon classes did get considerably more tiring after classes started. Before then, he rolled out of bed at the last possible moment before his shift started, but now he could be on his feet from 9am to 6pm. 

At least he had coffee to keep him going.

It was almost 4pm and Magnus was standing behind the coffee machine. He was sharing the shift with Raphael, who could be surly and didn’t enjoy talking to customers so spent as much time as possible doing jobs that meant no interaction with anyone. 

He was currently checking stock in the back. Magnus was supposed to be looking after the counter and the machines and everything, but he had been staring at the coffee machine for over five minutes now, completely zoned out.

He didn’t notice when someone approached the counter. 

He was only broken out of his reverie when the customer spoke. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Magnus looked up, startled, and immediately stepped out from behind the machine.

“Hi. Yes. Sorry. Were you waiting long?” he asked, plastering his best smile on his face for two reasons: one, he felt bad for standing there like an idiot while this man was probably trying to get his attention; and two, the man was incredibly handsome. 

The man shook his head and it took him a couple of tries before he managed to say, “I was just starting to get sort of worried.”

“I was just falling asleep on my feet. Haven’t had a chance to have a nap today,” Magnus said, waving a hand. He realised that he probably sounded like an 80-year-old and quickly moved on. “What can I get for you?”

“Just an Americano. Black,” said Tall-and-Handsome. 

Interesting. Magnus wouldn’t have pegged him as a plain black coffee man. “To go?” he asked.

Tall-and-Handsome nodded. 

“What’s your name?” Magnus asked. They didn’t usually do the name thing when it was this quiet, but Magnus was curious. 

“Alexander,” he said. Then he frowned and shook his head slightly. “Alec. Just Alec. Nobody ever calls me Alexander. I don’t know why I said that.” 

If Magnus didn’t know better, he’d say Alec was blushing. And he didn’t know better, so it was fairly likely. He stepped sideways to start making Alec’s coffee. When he glanced over and they made eye contact, he decided to make conversation. 

“I haven’t seen you here before,” he said. Maybe that was the wrong way to start a conversation. Did it sound creepy? 

Alec didn’t look particularly uncomfortable as he replied. “No. I used to go to Starbucks all the time, but…” he trailed off and shrugged. “Support local businesses and everything.”

Magnus put a hand to his chest in mock horror. “How dare you say the S-word in this hallowed hall,” he said sternly, but he was smirking. 

Alec shrugged sheepishly. 

“Well, if you’re getting Americanos from there, I’m not surprised you moved on. Their seasonal drinks are good, but anything else is…not,” Magnus said, scrunching up his nose. “Our seasonal drinks are better, though. Don’t go back to Starbucks when fall comes along,” he added hastily.

Alec laughed and shook his head. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

Magnus hoped that he wasn’t just being polite. He let the last of the coffee drip into the cup, popped a lid on top and slid a cardboard ring around it. “Enjoy,” he said, sliding it over to Alec.

Alec thanked him and took the coffee. He was about to walk away when he turned back to Magnus. “I didn’t pay you,” he said.

Magnus closed his eyes for a moment. He needed to adjust his sleeping schedule if he wanted to survive these long days (which weren’t even particularly long, all things considered). “It’s on the house. Consider it an apology for me being all over the place.”

“Fine. Consider this a tip,” Alec said, holding out the two dollars he would have used for his coffee.

Magnus was too surprised to do anything other than take it. “Thank you,” he said.

Alec gave him one more smile before leaving the cafe and, just like that, Magnus’ day returned to normal.

* * *

 

For the rest of that week, Magnus had morning shifts and he didn’t see Alec. He knew it was silly but whenever the door jingled open, he looked up hoping for Alec.

He didn’t get his wish until Monday, though. It was another quiet afternoon and Magnus was arranging some pastries nicely in their display case. It might have been trivial, but it annoyed him when people gave them to customers and left the remaining pastries in a mess.

He glanced up when the door jingled, expecting to give a polite hello, but got far too excited when he saw who it was. Especially considering he’d only met Alec once for about five minutes.

He brushed his hands against his apron to get rid of pastry crumbs and, in all the excitement, he couldn’t seem to restrain himself. “Hello, handsome!” he said cheerfully. 

Alec looked startled. “Hi,” he said blankly. 

Magnus immediately chastised himself. He could be straight, and some straight men did not take kindly to being called handsome by male baristas (no matter how handsome the barista in question was). 

Alec’s cheeks were getting noticeably redder by the second, though. Maybe all hope wasn’t lost.

“What can I get for you today? Another americano?” he asked, resting his elbows on the counter and smiling brightly at him.

“Uh. Yes. Yeah. Please,” Alec stuttered out. 

Magnus tried to control his smile as he stepped over to the machine, starting to make the coffee. “Have you had a nice day?” he asked.

Alec was watching Magnus, but his eyes flicked to the counter a moment after they made eye contact. “It’s been okay. Class was…class. You seem more cheerful than last time.”

“I am. My 9am class got cancelled this morning so I got the morning to myself,” Magnus explained. “Although I did need to stop my cat from going with the postman. He likes to climb into bags.”

Alec still looked kind of bemused and confused. “At least you didn’t have class,” he said.

“That’s true. What do you study?” Magnus asked as he stepped over to check on the coffee.

“Law,” Alec said. He didn’t sound particularly enthused. “You?”

“Fashion,” Magnus said as he popped a lid on the cup and slid it over to Alec. “I had a law module last year and hated it. All the latin was tiring and I like languages.”

Alec laughed and handed the money over. “Yeah. It’s…I mean, it is interesting. It’s just tough. And I don’t even know what I want to do in the future,” he explained.

Magnus nodded sympathetically. “There’s always that. Or having an idea but knowing that you’ll have to be very lucky for that to actually happen,” he agreed.

“I guess that’s true. It sounds cliche but if you work hard, hopefully you’ll be able to achieve whatever it is you want,” Alec said. Afterwards, he shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair in a way that was altogether too attractive. “That was cheesy. Sorry.”

Magnus laughed. “It’s alright. Sound advice,” he teased. On a whim, he grabbed his tongs and picked up one of the pastries he’d been arranging. “Do you want this on the house?” he asked as he held the tongs out towards Alec.

“What? You don’t have to do that,” Alec said despite the fact that he’d just taken the pastry. 

“Think of it as a thank you for the advice,” Magnus said, smiling widely at him. 

Alec shot him another smile. “Right. Thanks for the pastry. I’d better go,” he said, gesturing towards the door. “Hopefully see you again.”

“Absolutely,” Magnus called after him. 

If he had butterflies in his stomach as he watched Alec leave, he wouldn’t admit it.

* * *

 

The next time he saw Alec was under decidedly less pleasant circumstances. 

It was almost 10am on a Friday and the cafe was as full as it ever got.

What’s more, the coffee machine was playing up. 

Catarina was at the counter instead of Raphael, thank goodness, but even her polite smiles and multiple apologies weren’t enough to calm down some of the businessmen who clearly had  _ very important  _ things to do and didn’t they understand that their broken machine was disrupting their morning routine so much?

Magnus had tried every trick in the book to try and kick the machine back into action – including literally kicking it – but nothing seemed to be working.

He cast another glance at the growing queue and suddenly felt lighter. 

Alec was near the back, looking a little confused and very groggy. He waved a hand in a small wave when he saw Magnus looking. 

Magnus just pointed to the broken machine and made a face. 

To his bewilderment, Alec weaved his way through the queue until he was on the other side of the machine from Magnus. 

“Do you need help fixing it?” Alec asked. He looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. His hair was even messier than usual and his eyes were warm and his clothes were rumpled–

But Magnus wasn’t thinking about that now. “Are you a mechanic?” he asked. Of course he wasn’t a mechanic. He studied law. Maybe he had a job on the side?

Alec shook his head. “No, but a friend is weirdly into technology and stuff. Well. A friend of a friend,” he explained. “I can see what I can do? I probably won’t be able to help.”

“I’ve been looking at it for too long and I haven’t achieved anything. Another set of hands will help,” Magnus said. 

Alec managed to get through the queue and stepped behind the counter. Catarina gave Magnus a curious look, but was too busy with the customers to ask any questions.

“Feels different without a counter between us,” Magnus teased, stepping aside to let Alec look at the machine. 

“Yeah. I can see your legs,” Alec said, grinning. He cleared his throat and turned to the machine, bending to fiddle with it. 

Magnus didn’t interrupt him. He didn’t want to distract him from whatever magic he was working, and the way Alec was standing, his ass looked  _ incredible.  _

Soon Alec straightened up and pressed a button on the machine and it started working again, the coffee that was halfway done beginning to pour again. 

“Oh my god,” Magnus said. He stared at the coffee for a moment before looking back at Alec. “I could kiss you.”

Alec looked halfway between excited and frightened. Or maybe Magnus was imagining the excitement. 

“I won’t. I mean. I want to, but it would be very unprofessional,” Magnus said quickly. Maybe it was a good thing that he didn’t usually see Alec when he was on the morning shift. “Thank you for fixing the machine.”

Alec smiled down at him. “It’s really no problem.”

Magnus made up an americano as quickly as humanly possible and handed it to Alec, along with an almond croissant. “Take these. As payment for fixing it. You’re the best.”

Alec looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he just smiled at Magnus. “If you keep giving me free things you’ll go out of business,” he said. “I have to go to class. But see you around.”

With that, he was gone.

And for once in his life, Magnus was relieved that it was busy. That meant that Catarina didn’t have time to interrogate him. Until their shifts ended, that was.

* * *

 

Magnus was caught completely unaware the next time he came across Alec. 

It was 7am and he was doing the walk of shame. 

Well. Usually the walk of shame meant you’d stayed at somebody’s and had sex, but Magnus had started the evening with too much tequila and ended up falling asleep before midnight. It wasn’t his idea of a successful night. 

Now his face felt stiff from sleeping in makeup and he was trying to decide whether it was worth going to his 9am class. 

He could theoretically go as he was, but his outfit wasn’t class-appropriate.

He always looked excellent, of course, but he had different styles for different occasions. For work, he just wore eyeliner with his uniform; for school he wore his most stylish outfits and most carefully-applied makeup; but for going out he didn’t even attempt to restrain himself.

The heels of his boots were a little too high, his pants were  _ very  _ tight, and if he wore this much glitter in daylight he was sure it would blind people in the street. 

Most of the people on the subway at this hour were going to work, and they kept shooting him judgmental little looks, but Magnus ignored them. He knew he looked good, even if it was very obvious that he hadn’t been home that night. 

Soon enough, a train screeched into the station. Resisting the urge to actually cover his ears at the scream of metal against metal, Magnus hopped onto the train. It wasn’t packed, but it was busy enough that there weren’t any available seats. 

He held onto the pole and set about inspecting his nail polish. It was still mostly unchipped. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he’d spent the night passed out on the couch instead of visiting as many bars as possible.

He was absorbed in his nails when another hand appeared on the pole, just above his. He looked up and he was fairly sure he audibly gasped when he saw Alec.

“I thought it was you. I couldn’t work out, though. You look…different than usual,” Alec said, grinning. “Have you been out all night?”

Magnus shrugged and leaned against the pole, ignoring the way his heart was thudding in his chest. “You could say that.”

Alec raised his eyebrows. 

“Oh god. I didn’t have sex with anyone, I just had too much to drink and passed out on my friend’s couch,” Magnus said. He wasn’t sure if that was a better or worse impression than if he’d hooked up with someone.

Alec laughed. “Sounds fun. Do you have class?” 

“At 9,” Magnus said, scrunching up his nose. “I’m considering ditching it, though. My head is pounding and I’m hungry.” 

Alec thought for a moment before leaning against the pole. “I could ditch mine. It’s not an important class.” 

Magnus’ brain couldn’t seem to process what Alec was saying.

“I know this great coffee place. And there’s a guy who works there who keeps giving me free stuff,” Alec said. When Magnus still looked blank, he added, “And he’s cute.”

“I don’t think he’s working today,” Magnus said. Maybe it was the train’s movement, but he was sure his heart was beating a little faster. “But I think he’d love to buy you a coffee. And maybe breakfast.”

The way Alec was smiling made Magnus feel sort of lightheaded. 

“Maybe I’d like to buy him coffee and breakfast. Since he’s given me free things twice. It’s probably time to repay the favour,” Alec said, raising his eyebrows. 

Magnus could have continued arguing, but it was easier to just accept. “I think he’d enjoy that. He’s always thought you were cute.”

Alec laughed and it was like music. Cute, kind of snorty music. “He called me handsome last week. He didn’t hide it very well.”

Magnus couldn’t even bring himself to feel embarrassed. “I don’t think anyone could hide it,” he teased.

Alec rolled his eyes fondly.

If Magnus slid his hand up the pole so that it was resting on top of Alec’s, it was entirely accidental.

And if they kept holding hands as they left the subway, that was just convenient.

And if all the glitter in Magnus’ hair didn’t blind people as they wandered down the street, his smile definitely would.

**Author's Note:**

> for tumblr user stopdropandfeels! I really hope you enjoy it!! <3 <3


End file.
